Elderberry Syrup Recipe

The best Elderberry syrup recipe is quick, easy, and jam-packed with antioxidants. It’s delicious, too. You’ll have the kids lined up in the kitchen like little ducklings to take their daily dose. We like to mix a tablespoon into hot water to make a warming and immune-boosting elderberry tea! The quality of this syrup is one that money cannot buy. I’ll walk you through my quick method, with as little mess as possible…don’t worry… I’ve made all the messes myself, so you don’t have to. This recipe is comprised of traditional herbalist methods, with a twist!

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Below is the printable recipe card. To dive deeper into the topic of making this elderberry syrup, and commonly asked questions scroll down!

It’s hard to believe that autumn is approaching us again. Although our family took advantage of all that Summer had to offer and we are always sad to see her go, we will joyfully move into this next season.

Part of that joy comes from keeping everyone healthy! Last year we joined a few different homeschool groups. With that sense of community came a whole winter’s worth of viruses, that had us feeling defeated, to say the least. There is something to be said for building immunity through community. However, there is nothing worse than feeling helpless when your sweet babies look at you with their sick eyes, or you’re clenching your jaw all night listening to them cough. I’ve never been fond of that feeling and that is why I like to take matters into my own hands. So, with a cabinet full of homemade remedies and immune boosters, we can confidently face those bugs that inevitably creep up on us.

Elderberry syrup is a worthwhile remedy to add in; the kids don’t mind taking it, it’s versatile and easy to add to other dishes, as well…over pancakes, atop homemade yogurt and granola, in a bubbly drink, or a tea, or even over ice cream? I mean, it’s worth a try!

Why is Elderberry Syrup Good for you?

Black Elderberries or Sambucus nigra, are part of the honeysuckle family. Leaves, buds, and flowers are used in a variety of methods. The elderflowers and their berries are antiviral and immune-stimulating. When elderberry syrup is taken as a tea, it can help sweat out a fever or a cold. The syrup is traditionally used to treat upper respiratory infections caused by the common cold or flu. The berries are high in a compound known as procyanidins- a beneficial and potent group of plant flavonoids high in antioxidants. The elderberry has the highest levels of antioxidants compared to any other berry.

Where should I get my Elderberries?

We love to go out as a family and pick buckets full of elderberries. We bring them back to the farmhouse, sit in the sunshine, and pull the berries off the stems. Afterward, we move them into the dehydrator to be dried. This is my favorite way to store our elderberries until I’m ready to make a batch of syrup. We love to pick them ourselves, but it’s also time-consuming and tedious to get all the little berries off the stem. Dried elderberries can be easily sourced at a high quality, these are the dried elderberries I like to use.

Tips for remembering to take it every day:

You can have this syrup ready to go in your fridge, but if you don’t remember to take it, then it’s useless. I’ve run into this problem over the years. This is one of the reasons I love elderberry syrup, it’s easier to remember because it’s delicious so it’s not hard to take. But, I’m a human too, so I know that sometimes we just can’t seem to make a habit out of something. Some suggestions that have worked well for me, are to employ the help of older children to remind me every day. Even adding “Remind Mama to give everyone their Elderberry Syrup today.” Kids feel valued when they are included in important tasks in the day.

We’ve been talking about Habit Stacking in our house. Habit staking is when you add in tasks that you would like to make into a habit, at parts of the day that are already strictly routine. Bedtime is a good example of this. The bedtime routine happens every single night, so why not stack taking elderberry in there, too?

Tools you may need:

– Stainless steel pot – Mason jar with a lid – High-speed blender – Mesh cheesecloth bag or a nut milk bag- makes this process so much less messy that it’s worth it to find yourself one! It’s helpful when the bag fits around the pot that you are going to use to simmer your syrup. You can just use regular cheesecloth. In a bit, I’ll explain why these bags cut out so much mess! – Wooden spoon – 16 oz. glass mason jar for storing your syrup, preferably a 16oz glass amber jar with screw cap lids – Funnel

Ingredients:

Dried Elderberries– fresh or dried

Water– I prefer to use filtered water. In our farmhouse, we use a Berkey water filter.

Honey– Raw, local honey.

Other herb and spice options to add to your syrup:

All of these additional herbs have their immune-boosting benefits but are not essential to making a potent elderberry syrup. You can have fun by adding all, some, or none of these.

Turmeric

Ground or whole sticks of Ceylon Cinnamon

Astragalus– I always have a big jar of this dried root. There are many easy and different ways that I use it. Astragalus is a wonderful immune-stimulating, blood-building, and liver-protective herb.

Citrus peels – I always try to use what I have on hand, whether it’s orange or lemon peel.

Ginger– You can use fresh or dried, a thumb size amount, peel off the skin and grated or thinly sliced

Wild foraged dried Turkey Tail mushrooms– You’d be surprised at how easily these mushrooms are to find in the wild. However, they can also be purchased through a reliable source

How To Make Quick and Easy Elderberry Syrup:

Step One: The Night before prepare the Elderberry Decoction

Add dried elderberries to a clean quart-size mason jar.

Boil filtered water. I use my teapot for easy pouring. Add boiling filtered water to the elderberries in the mason jar. At this point use caution with the jar as it is very hot! Carefully screw a lid on the mason jar. Allow the mixture to sit overnight. This will make a strong decoction. A decoction is just a fancy word in the herbal world for a strong tea!

Step Two: Prepping the Elderberries

In the morning or sometime the next day, add the contents of the mason jar into a high-speed blender. Blend into a mush.

Lay your mesh nut bag over the pot that you want to use to cook down your elderberries. Pour the mush into the bag. The bag will catch most of the seeds and skins that you don’t want in your syrup.

When you see the juice is no longer flowing out of the bag into the pot, pull the bag away from the pot and twist. Squeeze out all remaining juice into the pot. Keep twisting and squeezing, you don’t want to waste any of that precious medicine!

You can compost the seeds or feed them to your chickens

Step Three: Cooking the Elderberries

Put the pot on the stovetop on low, and simmer. Stir frequently.

If you are going to add in any or all of the extra herb and spice options I mentioned above, this would be the time to add them in. As your elderberries are simmering, I will throw in some citrus peels, ground cinnamon or cinnamon sticks, etc. Whatever you have on hand. This is an opportunity to get a little creative with your syrup!

Reduce to half the volume.

Step 4: Finishing Elderberry Syrup

Next, add 1 cup of raw honey to a glass amber jar. Sometimes, I will just use the same jar I used to soak the berries in overnight. This saves me time and dishwashing in the end.

When your elderberry juice has reduced by half, take it off the stove and let it cool to a temperature under 105. It’s important to cool your elderberry mixture so that the honey holds its integrity by not killing off the good bacteria naturally found in raw honey. When it has cooled, carefully pour into the jar with the honey. If you add any whole herbs, spices, or mushrooms, you will want to strain the liquid before adding it to the jar. Then, take a spoon and mix until it is thick and fully incorporated.

Next, I let the mixture sit out on the counter until it has cooled down. Now that the syrup has cooled, you can put the lid on and give the mixture a few more shakes. Later, I store the elderberry syrup in the fridge. Because honey is a natural preservative it will last up to 3 months in the refrigerator. My guess, is, if you are taking it every day, you will have used it up before then.

What is the dosage of Elderberry syrup?

The dosage for elderberry syrup is 1 Tablespoon or 5 mL taken up to five times a day. If everyone is feeling well, I use elderberry syrup as a preventative against colds and influenza and give 5 ml once a day. We start taking it daily when public school starts back up in the Fall, until April or May of the next year. If we are already under the weather I will give 5 ml up to five times a day. My boys think it’s exciting to take their daily dose of elderberry syrup in a shot glass. However, for ease and less mess, I will administer it to them in a 5 ml syringe. Either way, they love taking their elderberry syrup, in fact, they think it’s a treat!

Who cannot take Elderberry Syrup?

Babies under the age of 1 should NOT take this syrup because of the raw honey present in it.

What other home remedies are you interested in making?

Let me know in the comments below!

Below is a Free Printable Label for your Elderberry Syrup!

I would recommend printing this label onto this waterproof sticker paper